Urbana artist's watercolor earns national award

Bonnie Switzer of Urbana won the $300 Jo Bidner Memorial Award from the Watercolor USA Honor Society for her watercolor, "Free Spirit."

Her painting was selected for inclusion in the 57th exhibition of Watercolor USA, which opens Saturday at the Springfield, Mo., Art Museum and continues through Aug. 26.

The retired teacher has moved from representational to abstract painting over the years.

In an artist's statement on her recent images, she described her process:

"I respond to what happens with the paint on the paper. When I start a new piece, I begin by choosing a color palette, and first create texture over the whole sheet by pressing various materials into wet washes of watercolor."

She said she uses a variety of media to create a layered surface that is complex and esthetically rich.

"My art is highly personal but speaks to viewers in different ways," she said. "I feel that people respond to color and shapes in somewhat the same way they respond to musical notes."

The annual Watercolor USA exhibition attracts entries from across the U.S.; this year, they hail from 31 states. The judge was Kelly Kane, editor-in-chief of PleinAir magazine.